By Matt Bressington
Every year a new class of athletes etches themselves into European American football’s history. In 2021 it was Louis Geyer, in 2022 it was Marco Schneider, who both held the “Rookie of the Year” title in the highest league of Europe, the European League of Football. Outside of Europe, players like Seydou Traore and Jasper Friis have been making their impact known at the college level in North America. To go even further, Marcel Dabo of the Indianapolis Colts is one of the best young athletes to ever come out of Europe. In this series, I will present my picks for young players who are below the age of twenty-one and will have significant impacts on the football landscape, effectively immediately, or potentially down the line.
Defensive Back – Czech Republic – Jakub Čížek – Vysočina Gladiators
Čížek is one of my favourite young DBs in Europe that I’ve ever scouted. He’s built like a Division 1 Safety at 6’1 210, and although he has ways to go in terms of his fundamental skills in Man coverage, his zone coverage is a unique quality. He is physical on receivers and has the trigger to come down into the short zone from the corner position, meaning he has thrived in a Cover 2 or 6 situations for the Vysočina Gladiators. He maintains active in his vision between his reads of the receivers and Quarterback. Keeping his head on a swivel so that he can quickly and explosively break into the tackle or make a play on the ball. Although his competition is not as experienced as some of his contemporaries, he displays the serious potential to perform at the next level. For improvements to his pass defence, I would say the use of his hands to feel out threats could be improved as he can lose his man by looking for the ball too early, and his back pedal footwork could be overall smoother.
These reasons are why I believe he’s best suited to a Box-Safety/Nickle role where he can affect the short zones while executing his explosive tackling and physical stature. This would also allow him to be utilized in run support, with the previously mentioned size and explosiveness I think he could be moulded excellently into this role. It’s important to remember, Jakub is still relatively new to football as an 18-year-old athlete who started playing in 2020. Overall, with his potential he could go far in Europe either as a Home-Grown for the Prague Lions in the ELF or if he chooses to leave his parent club in Jihlava. Or even still make the leap stateside, with the influx of European talent it isn’t out of the question that a coach finds his athletic potential an investment.
Play Style Comparisons
Predicted Possible Landing Spots